Olympics 2020: Everything you need to know about Philly Olympian Vashti Cunningham

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Vashti Cunningham, 22, is an American track and field athlete and Olympian who competes in the high jump event.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, she exploded into the track & field mainstream with a junior high jump world record back in March 2016, and has been competing at the highest levels in the event ever since.

Cunningham is also the daughter of legendary Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham.

Olympic background

Even though she's just 22 years old, 2020 will be Cunningham's second Olympics. She competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics as an 18-year-old; at the time, she was the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games since 1980. She finished 13th in the high jump.

Since last Olympics

Cunningham has been busy since 2016, nabbing a trio of World Championship medals in both indoor and outdoor championships. She picked up a gold at the 2016 indoor World Championships, a silver at the 2018 indoor World Championships, and a bronze at the 2019 outdoor World Championships.

Cunningham, on Philly and the Eagles

"My dad was a professional football player, and a lot of people know who he is out there and everywhere we go. So automatically I was getting looked at, as Randall Cunningham's daughter. That was kind of where my support started, but it changed when I started to do my own thing, and then I was Vashti Cunningham, not Randall Cunningham's daughter with no name."

"It's really cool to me, because the Eagles are my favorite team, and I take so much pride in him being on that team, and being the quarterback that he was for the team that I love. I love when people come up to him. I love it when somebody tells me they're from Philly, and they watch me high jump and they knew my dad. That just makes my heart warm. I'm from Philly in my head. I know I'm not from Philly, but I want to be a little bit, because of the Eagles and my squad."

Social media

You can follow Cunningham on Twitter here and on Instagram here.

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